Birth of the white flame
by Arielen
Summary: Merlin had rescued and guarded a treasure, which could become the last hope of dragon and men. But now he learns more about the most noble task of dragonlord and the secrets behind it. It will change him forever.


Title: Birth of the white Flame

Series: Merlin, Season 4.4

Genre: episode-tag

Rating: G

Merlin had rescued and guarded a treasure, which could become the last hope of dragon and men. But now he learns more about the most noble task of dragonlord and the secrets behind it. It will change him forever.

Disclaimer: „Merlin" and its characters do not belong to me .

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The words of the great dragon still filled Merlins mind. He felt tension in his body because he knew how important this moment was for dragon and men. So he did not underestimate his task or took it to easy.

In his hands he held the last dragon egg, a precious thing that had not yet come to life. When that would be done, it could last hundreds of years.

He hesitated.

_What would happen to the unborn, if he chooses the wrong name?_

_But could he choose the wrong name anyway?_

Once again he looked to the old and wise dragon, who was his mentor and friend, after all. But Kilgarrah only nodded full of expectations and happiness.

So Merlin knew, that he could not disappoint him.

If the young dragon would hatch, the old would no longer be the of his kind on earth. And there was hope, that his race would remain longer in this realm than expected.

After all the cruel things, men had done to dragonkind, it was right to do everything, keeping the majestic creatures alive.

So he showed his last doubts away and straightened his back.

Yes, there was one sure path to choose the rightful name for this little one.

He would give himself to the special kind of magic, which was a heritage of the dragonlords since ancient times – without thinking about the danger, that it might overwhelm him, if he wasn't cautious enough …

So the young warlock went back one step and closed his eyes. With a deep breath he offered himself to the original powers from the beginning of time, which were part of the dragon nature.

The egg was no longer a physical thing. He looked through the shell of flesh and bone, which guarded a tiny little spark, glowing weakly.

But it was more than that… Merlin understood the truth in the mere moment and smiled.

Now it was not more than a quietly shining point in the starless night of eternity, who was waiting for him. But not far into the future it would give hope in dark times, like a guiding light in a storm. It would be a white flame, destroying the evil, if it gained the power to spread itself.

And there was another Truth: He must not choose any name, it was there and existed as long as the egg.

He felt the soft touch of the unborn, its curiosity and excitement towards another soul nearing its own after hundreds of lonely years, although it could not estimate any span of time for now.

Now Merlin took a deep breath and let it fill his mind. Then he spoke it in the ancient magical tongue of the dragons: **„Aithusa!"**

The spark began to glow brightly as the sun.

Its warmth and light filled his heart with joy, deeper as any happyness he had felt before this day. Now the ancient powers allowed him to take a look at the secrets of creation in a moment of timeless eternity.

He stood there, holding his breath, because nothing mundane should disturb this special moment.

_Waves of fire touched his own earthly hull softly and without harm. His heart pounded slowly in the rhythm of nature itself. Now he was one with the earth and the stone beneath his feed, the plants surrounding him, the living creatures hiding in the trees or behind the bushes - and at last with no other being than Aithusa._

Little threads spread out from the growing light, searching for flesh and bone, where the waking soul would live in from now. He saw the little one - not with his eyes, but his heart - from the soft horns on its brow. to the tips of its wings down to the little claws.

Life spread fast in the motionless corpse and then ...

The creature moved its head, pressing it against the shell. The eggtooth found a weak spot in the hull.

Merlin opened his eyes.

Now he saw the breaking shell in reality, listened to the craings sounds when it finally broke and gave away its secret.

He burst into tears instinctively, but he wasn't ashamed of this weakness, because it wasn't one.

_In this moment he felt like a father who holds his own child in his arms knowing, that a part of him would remain in this world, when he was finally gone._

Maybe he had no part in Aithusas breeding, but he was an important part in its birth. And they both knew. So the young dragon searched for him and looked in his eyes, when he took his first breath - not in Kilgarrah's.

Their souls merged again and forged a strong binding between them.

Merlin took a deep breath again. He only listened to half of the words the Great dragon spoke to him. Yes he already knew, that his choosing was right, because now his soul was filled by the joy and curiousity of the little dragon. He shared the urgent wish to test its wings and explore the world

_His mind was also filled by the songs and whispers of ancient wisdom, the old knowledge, which was shared both by dragons and dragonlords._ He was proud of this special gift, Kilgarrah and Aithusa gave to him.

Now he knew, why this task was the most important and most noble for a dragonlord like him and his fathers.

Never before he had reached deeper in the original powers of life and nature, which also nurtured his magic or looked at them in their full glory. At that moment he had been one with them, shared their secrets of might and danger.

That gave him an advantage in front of Morgana. Maybe the insight into the old wisdom, Morgause taught her was deeper than his, but she would never be able to understand the real nature of the powers, which she thought she could control completely.

Merlin gained that wisdom with the little dragon today, and that might prove useful in the future.

For this reason Aithusa had become the bright light of hope and strength for him too. _It would be the white flame, which would help him to banish the darkness and the evil from this realm_ - that he knew for sure!

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Special note:_ Please have mercy, if there are to much misspellings and errors. I am not a native speaker and still a novice in writing stories in a language I have learned in school more than 20 years ago. So be gentle and helpful if you like to write something about the little story. I would be happy._


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